This commitment will "help ensure continued training of current and future arts leaders in the United States and around the world and will include $2.5 million devoted to the Institute's operating funds over five years. An additional $20 million will create an endowment to indefinitely provide the Institute with annual support," according to the May 3 press statement.

The programs of the DeVos Institute of Arts Management — formerly the Kennedy Center Arts Management Institute — at the Kennedy Center offer practical training to arts managers and board members in the United States and around the world.

In a statement new Chairman Rubenstein said, "As a world-class performing arts center, the Kennedy Center has developed extensive expertise in strategic planning, board management, marketing, fundraising, financial management, technology, and artistic planning. Betsy and Dick's extremely generous commitment will ensure this expertise is shared throughout the nation and the world. It is appropriate for the Institute to bear their name."

Chairman Emeritus Schwarzman added, "As Chairman of the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees' Development Committee, Betsy has seen first-hand the need for funding for arts management training. She and Dick are exemplary leaders and I'm proud that my departing announcement as Kennedy Center Chairman is such a joyous one, designed to fill the field's need in a way that will ultimately enrich the entire country and the world."

"We are so honored to support this important effort," stated Betsy and Dick DeVos. "We are excited and optimistic about its potential to positively impact the arts in our country and around the world. Training and preparing arts managers to effectively lead artists and arts organizations is a powerful way to leverage creative talents for the benefit and enjoyment of all of us. It is a privilege to work with Michael Kaiser, a man whose visionary leadership has already had an incredible impact in this area. With Michael’s continued focus and herculean efforts, the DeVos Institute is sure to become the world’s leading institution devoted to training arts managers." "In this country, billions of dollars are spent to train musicians, dancers, and actors, but very little is spent training the people who employ them,” stated Kennedy Center President Michael M. Kaiser. "This generous financial commitment will allow the nation's artists to have a strong platform of support and professional leadership. I applaud and thank Dick and Betsy for their tremendous generosity."

Schwarzman and Rubenstein also announced that Kaiser will remain as Kennedy Center president through 2014. Kaiser will then lead the DeVos Institute through 2017.

For more information about the Kennedy Center, visit www.kennedy-center.org. For more information about the DeVos Institute of Arts Management at the Kennedy Center, visit www.artsmanager.org.